System, Method, And Apparatus For Purchasing, Dispensing, Or Sampling Of Products

ABSTRACT

A product dispenser includes a product sampling portion configured to contain a product to be sampled. The product sampling portion includes a product sample dispenser. A packaged product portion is configured to contain and dispense a packaged product corresponding to a product to be sampled.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/360,503, filed Nov. 23, 2016. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/360,503 is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/269,741, filed May 5, 2014. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/269,741 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/087,881, filed Nov. 22, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No.9,527,716 B2 issued Dec. 27, 2016. U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/360,503 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/269,741 is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/087,881is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Consumers are becoming increasingly savvy in their product purchasingbehaviors. They use their smart phones to perform price comparisons.They select, at point of purchase, from several available options. Forexample, users may select from one of several different car washesavailable at a gasoline kiosk. And, when shopping for food or otherproducts, consumers frequently ask the seller to try a free sample ofthe food or other product, such as perfume, being sold or displayed.There exists an opportunity and need to provide consumers with a greaterrange of options when making their purchasing decisions.

The Coca-Cola Company currently markets and sells non-alcoholicbeverages through various outlets and dispensing and vending equipment.One such type of dispensing equipment is known as the Freestyle®dispensing machine, which permits customers to select from over onehundred different product and flavor combinations. Such dispensingmachines are often placed in fast food restaurants, convenience stores,malls, and other venues that tend to attract consumers. An example ofthe apparatus, processes, methods, and systems potentially associatedwith the Freestyle® dispensing machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.8,340,815, to Peters, et al., incorporated in its entirety by referenceherein.

Frequently, a consumer attempting to use a Freestyle® vending machinemay be uncertain as to which of the over one hundred offerings tochoose. This can lead to not only an unhappy consumer who may select anoffering that he or she does not enjoy, but also may lead to otherunhappy consumers waiting in line for such uncertain consumers to make aflavor selection.

The Coca-Cola Company currently provides a Freestyle® smart phoneapplication that may be directed at addressing this problem bypermitting consumers to pre-select on the application their favoriteflavor offerings. The application permits consumers to consult aselection of over one hundred choices, mix their own virtual flavors,and start adding favorite brands and mixes to the application user'sfavorites list. The application provides for push notifications, locatesFreestyle® machines in proximity to the application user, and offers a“Mobile App Sweepstakes.”

The Coca-Cola Company, and other entities that sell products, arecontinuously looking for new ways to market their products anddemonstrate their attributes relative to competitive products and toencourage consumers to try both existing and new product offerings.Moreover, given the well-publicized global obesity epidemic, companiesthat sell calorie containing products are working hard to offer lowercalorie options and to demonstrate to the consuming public, as well asgovernmental agencies, of their efforts in this regard.

Often, sellers of consumer products, in order to increase consumerawareness of their brands, offer—sometimes for a limitedtime—non-standard product variants or line extensions of such brands;one example, in the context of beverages, is Mountain Dew® “Kickstart,”currently being offered by PepsiCo, Inc., in Black Cherry and Limeadeflavors. But often, consumers will be reluctant to commit to purchasinga six or 12-pack of such a line extension, or even to purchase a singleserving thereof. For this reason, products—particularly new products orvariants of existing products—are often marketed with promotions,including free product sampling at venues attracting numerous consumers,such as sporting events, concerts, etc. Other products, such as health,beauty, and personal care products marketed, for example, by Procter &Gamble, are sometimes sampled in drug stores, supermarkets, etc., or bysending small free samples to potential consumers in the mail.

But such promotions often require hiring numerous promotions staff,and/or employees to hand out free product samples for example, and donot typically provide an option for consumers to purchase the sampledproducts immediately after sampling, when there exists the greatestopportunity to make a product sale, or to obtain and/or transmit andstore post-sampling market research data.

In the context of consumer products, the period of time after which aconsumer first notices or is presented with an offered product and makesa purchasing decision is sometimes referred to as “the first moment oftruth,” also referred to as “FMOT,” a term generally recognized ashaving been coined by Procter and Gamble circa 2005. FMOT is generallyrecognized as the few seconds after a shopper first encounters a producton a store shelf. It is in these precious few seconds, P&G contends,that marketers have the best chance of converting a browser into a buyerby appealing to their senses, values and emotions.

The first moment of truth may vary, of course, by individual, by type ofstore, and/or type of product. For example, some consumers take longerthan others to make a purchasing decision. Some products, such ashigh-priced items like automobiles, are only purchased after an extendedperiod of time, perhaps an hour or more. As used herein, the term “firstmoment of truth” is intended to mean a generally recognized period oftime, which may comprise a range of time, during which marketers ofparticular products understand that they have the best opportunity toconvert a potential purchaser into a purchaser of such products byappealing to their senses, values, and/or emotions. In the context ofconsumer products, such as health and personal care, food, beverage, andsimilar items, particularly those being offered at grocery stores,supermarkets, pharmacies, convenience stores, big box stores, etc., thefirst moment of truth is typically recognized as being about three toseven seconds.

Recent marketing theory suggests, however, that there may actually befour “moments of truth” in the marketing context, as illustrated by thefollowing:

Zero Moment of Truth or ZMOT: Potential purchaser recognizes the needfor a product or service and may seek out additional information for it,for example by going online. This term, coined by Google, may includeface-to-face meetings as well as online information acquisition. In a2011 study, Google reported that different categories of shoppers areinfluenced by the Zero Moment of Truth or “ZMOT.” For example, 99% ofthose making travel purchases were found to be influenced by ZMOT, whileonly 61% of consumers of packaged grocery products and only 63% ofconsumers of packaged goods in health, beauty, and personal care were soinfluenced. Such data, in the context of consumer packaged goods,indicates a need to either provide additional opportunities orincentives to influence consumers at the ZMOT, and/or to influenceconsumers of such products to more quickly get from the ZMOT to theFMOT.

First Moment of Truth or FMOT: The potential purchaser makes apurchasing decision when presented with the product or service, whetheronline, on shelf, or otherwise. Traditionally, this moment occurred atthe store shelf, and may now occur on a “virtual shelf,” i.e., online.

Second Moment of Truth or SMOT: The purchaser has purchased and used theproduct or service; ideally the experience supports any pre-purchasepromises or promotional inducements. This is often the purchaser's firstuse of the product.

Third Moment of Truth or TMOT: The purchaser becomes a “follower” of thepurchased product or service, sharing positive messaging about it withothers via word of mouth, social media, etc. The purchaser may also ratethe product or service and/or provide reviews therefor. This is oftenthe point at which the brand's message reaches the purchaser in amemorable or reinforcing way, and was traditionally accomplished withtelevision advertising.

One attempt to provide consumers information with respect to one or moreof these moments of truth can be found, for example, in U.S. PatentApplication No. 2013/0035787 to Canter. This published applicationprovides a 2-D bar code at the vending machine for a consumer to link toan informational page on a website. This disclosure fails, however, toteach control of the vending machine from a smartphone or othercommunication device, and fails to provide any physical enticementthrough product sampling to a prospective purchaser of the productsbeing supplied by the vending machine.

There exists a need to provide consumers with product samplingopportunities and product purchasing opportunities that are proximate intime and location to one another and ideally commensurate with the firstmoment of truth for a particular product. There exists a need tocompress the four moments of truth into a shorter time span than occurswith traditional marketing methods of radio, television, and printadvertising, and online shopping, and to take full advantage of themarket research opportunities of product sampling by positioning thefour moments of truth about a common purchasing experience and/orpurchasing location. There exists a need to more readily incentivizeconsumers to sample product offerings and share their experiences, forexample, with providers of such products and on social media, promptlyfollowing product sampling experiences.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the disclosure, there may be provided amethod comprising initiating a push notification offering a free productsampling, receiving a response to the push notification indicative of anacceptance of the offering, and authorizing the dispensing of the freeproduct sampling. The push notification may be provided via a mobiledevice application.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, there may be provided aproduct dispenser configured to dispense one or more products, theproduct dispenser may be further configured to dispense a sample size ofthe one or more products. The product dispenser may further comprise auser interface configured to permit a customer to request a free samplefrom the product dispenser, and a product size discriminator configuredto discriminate between and dispense the one or more products accordingto whether a purchased product size or a sample product size has beenselected for dispensing.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, there may be provided asystem comprising a product dispenser configured to dispense a purchasedproduct and a free sample of a product corresponding to the purchasedproduct; and a mobile application configured to receive pushnotifications offering to dispense free samples of product from thedispenser.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic representation of systems, methods,and/or apparatus of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates operations that may be used for carrying out one ormore methods of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a product dispenser of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a preferred method according to the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates another preferred method according to the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In one aspect of the disclosure illustrated in FIG. 1, a system,generally 10, comprising a point of sale, generally 100, and adispensing area, generally 200, may be provided. The point of point ofsale 100 may, for example, include one or more of a counter 110, a cashregister 112, and a menu 114. Additionally or optionally, the point ofsale 100 may include a display 116, such as are commonly used inconnection with drive-through areas of fast food restaurants, gasstations, banks, and pharmacies, for example.

The dispensing area 200 may comprise one or more apparatus fordispensing products. For example the dispensing area 200 may comprise adispensing machine 210 such as a Freestyle® type beverage dispenser thatprovides Freestyle® type beverage products of The Coca-Cola Company.Such dispensing machine 210 may comprise a keypad, touchscreen, orgraphical user interface 215 configured to permit a consumer to makepurchasing decisions and/or product selections from the dispensing area200. Additionally or alternatively, the dispensing area 200 may comprisea vending machine, such as those used for vending packaged or unpackagedproducts, such as beverages in bottles or cans, toiletries, laundryproducts, pharmaceutical products, electronic products, golf balls atdriving ranges, coffee beans, and the like. As another example, thedispensing machine 210 may provide products such as Apple® smart phones,tablets, and related accessories sold by Apple Computer Company, orsoftware products such as those sold by Microsoft Corporation.

In one aspect of the disclosure, the point of point of sale 100 may bein communication with the dispensing area 200, either through a wired orwireless connection, generally 300. Indeed, the point of point of sale100 may be in close proximity or even comprise the dispensing area 200,as in the case of a vending machine. The connection 300 may permit thepoint of point of sale 100 to communicate information to the dispensingarea 200. Such information may, for example, include information that apurchase has been made, that the purchase, if made with a credit card,has been validated, and/or that a particular product has been selected.

One or more of the point of point of sale 100 and dispensing area 200may communicate with a handheld or mobile device, such as a consumer'ssmart phone, generally 400, e.g., via a wired or wireless connection 302between the point of sale 100 and the smart phone 400 (or other mobiledevice) and/or between the smart phone 400 and the dispensing area 200,via a wired or wireless connection 304. The smart phone 400 may includeone or more applications 410 that may be provided by or on behalf of amerchant, such as the owner of a restaurant, store, gas station, orother location in which a dispensing area is placed, or may be providedby the entity that markets or sells the products being dispensed, suchas The Coca-Cola Company in the case of a dispensing area 200 comprisinga Freestyle® dispensing machine 210, and the Freestyle smart phoneapplication, for example. Although the embodiment of the disclosureillustrated in FIG. 1 contemplates a smart phone 400 as the mobiledevice, it will now be appreciated that any device capable of beingenabled with a user application, or capable of providing communicationof information, data, and/or instructions and/or push notifications,including, for example “Google Glass” devices, Bluetooth®-enableddevices, tablets, or even implantable computer chips, may be employedaccording to the teachings set forth herein in keeping with the subjectmatter claimed herein.

In one aspect of the disclosure, a consumer may register with a providerof products or services, such as The Coca-Cola Company, using theapplication 410. Such registration may be used to set up an account withthe provider, verify credit accounts, set limits on purchase amounts,etc. Such registration may further provide the consumer with permissionsto access the dispensing area, either by using credit accounts, by usingbank accounts, or by using a code or other identifier that may beprovided, for example, by the provider of products or services, by thesmart phone application provider, by the smart phone service provider,or at the point of purchase, for example, by the operator of therestaurant in which the point of point of sale 100 resides.

In another aspect of the disclosure, the dispensing area 200 maycomprise apparatus, systems, and/or components 220 configured to permita consumer to try a free sample of product. In the case of a Freestyle®dispensing machine 210, a free sample module 230 may be included withinthe dispensing machine 210. The free sample module 230 may include anarea, such as a virtual button 240 on the graphical user interface 215of the dispensing machine 210. The free sample module 230 may alsoinclude a dispenser for dispensing a free sample cup. The free samplecup may be of a size that may hold a free sample that is significantlyless than a standard serving size, i.e., less than 8 fluid ounces. Inone aspect, the free sample cup may hold one or two fluid ounces orless. Unless used otherwise herein, the term “sample size”, in thecontext of liquid beverage samples, is intended to mean a single servingof less than about 8 fluid ounces (about 240 ml). In the case of otherliquid products, such as laundry detergent, the term “sample size” isintended to mean sufficient liquid to perform a single operation, suchas washing a typical load of clothing. As another example, in the caseof contact lens solution, the term “sample size” is intended to meanseveral drops for one or two doses to enable application of the solutionto one or two contact lenses. As another example, in the case of acosmetic, perfume, or cologne sample, the term “sample size” is intendedto mean a volume of cosmetic, perfume, or cologne roughly correspondingto the volume contained in a commercially available sample vial, packet,or other container, i.e., generally sufficient quantity for a singleuse.

In one aspect, it has been found that a sample size of about 2 fluidounces (about 30 ml) of a beverage may provide sufficient sampling for aconsumer to determine whether he or she wishes to dispense a full-sizedsingle serve drink. Consumers are accustomed to being accorded freesamples, for example, in supermarkets at the deli case, where suchsamples are provided in small disposable cups, sometimes with disposableforks or spoons. As with the supermarket example, a vendor or providerof other products, including liquid products such as beverages (bothalcoholic and non-alcoholic), liquid soap, liquid detergent, lotion(hand lotion, body lotion, etc.), perfume, mouthwash, contact lenssolution etc., may find it advantageous when promoting its products toprovide consumers with free samples such as described herein.

The system of the present disclosure may permit a consumer to access afree sample in a number of ways. For example, the consumer may purchasea beverage of unspecified type at the point of point of sale 100. Aftermaking the purchase, the consumer may receive a code, for example on thesales receipt, that the consumer may input at the dispensing machine 210in order to access one or more free samples. Alternatively, the consumermay have previously registered with the provider of products or servicesand created a password, for example, on a smart phone application, suchas application 410, giving the consumer access to make purchases via hisor her smart phone application. The same code or other type of accessauthorization may also grant the consumer authorization to select afull-size single serve beverage, or may grant the consumer authorizationto access a predetermined number of servings of predetermined size. Thecode, or other authorization, may be input in different ways. Forexample, the dispensing machine 210 may comprise a virtual keypad thatis part of the graphical user interface, or an actual keypad that ispart of the dispensing machine 210. Alternatively, as described above,the authorization may be achieved merely by the user inputting his orher password into a smart phone application, such as application 410,which grants wireless access to the dispensing machine 210.

As another example, the consumer may have on his or her smart phone anapplication 410 provided by the seller of products such as, for example,The Coca-Cola Company. This application may include a useridentification system that may recognize the user, based on a uniqueidentifier provided by the seller, by the application provider, by thesmart phone 400, or by a wireless service provider with whom theconsumer has an account. Such identification system may, for example,permit the uses to enter his or her unique password as part of theapplication log on process. After log on is completed, the application410 may, for example through wireless communication, instruct thedispensing machine 210 that the user has permission to dispense a freesample. Once permission has been granted, the consumer may be notified,i.e., via the graphical user interface on the dispensing machine 210,and/or on the smart phone 400 display, that permission has been grantedto pour a free sample from the dispensing machine 210. The sameidentification system may also be employed to purchase products and/ordispense purchased products from the dispensing machine 210.

The systems, apparatus, and methods of the present disclosure may alsobe employed with more traditional beverage dispensing equipment,sometimes known as “legacy” fountain dispensing equipment, such as thatused by outlets serving beverages marketed by PepsiCo. When used withlegacy equipment, such equipment may be retrofitted with wirelesscommunication components and portion control apparatus to enabledispensing of product as described herein.

In another aspect of the disclosure, the smart phone application mayinclude, for example, push notifications that alert the consumer to newofferings, such as new flavors being offered by the product provider.Such notifications may additionally, or alternatively, make free productsamples available for a limited time, at limited locations, forpredetermined brands or flavors, and/or in predetermined quantities, forexample.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is illustrated a method of practicing anembodiment of the present disclosure. At operation 500, a notification,such as a push notification, may be initiated, for example, by a productseller, by a service provider, by an application provider, by a mobiledevice such as a smart phone, or by a wireless service provider withwhom a consumer has an account. This notification may be intended forone or more intended recipients, such as consumers, for example,advising them of a product or service offering and providing them anopportunity to accept a free sample of a product or a service.

At operation 502, the initiator of the notification may receive aresponse indicative of an acceptance of the offer, for example, from theone or more intended recipients. Such response may require the intendedrecipient(s) to register with the initiator of the notification, forexample, by joining or downloading the smart phone application 410 ontotheir smart phone 400. Such registration may also require the intendedrecipient(s) to provide customer information such as location,demographic information, product preferences, and/or provide paymentinformation such as a credit card number.

At operation 504, the initiator of the offer may authorize thedispensing of a free product sample or a free sample of a service. Suchauthorization operation may include receiving information from one ormore intended recipients indicative of the one or more intendedrecipients having joined or downloaded a mobile application, such asmobile application 410. Such authorization may include verifying thatthe intended recipient accepting the offer has registered with theinitiator of the offer, that the intended recipient has created anaccount capable of paying for a product or service corresponding to thesample product or service, or merely verifying that the intendedrecipient is in close proximity to the dispensing area 200.

In an alternative method, the free product or service may be authorizedfor dispensing at a point of sale 100. For example, if a customerpurchases products such as food items at a point of sale 100, he or shemay be given an offer to try a free sample of products, such asbeverages, at the dispensing area 200. Such offer may include a personalidentifier for the customer, such as a password or code that thecustomer may input, either wirelessly via a handheld device, or using atouch screen or touch pad associated with the dispensing machine 210.Alternatively, an operator at the point of sale 100 may instruct thedispensing machine 210, for example, via the wired or wirelessconnection 300, to permit the customer to dispense the free sample.

As another alternative, a customer may employ a mobile device, such as asmart phone 400 to place an order for a free product and/or a purchasedproduct via the wired or wireless connection 302 to the point of sale100. In this embodiment, the customer may or may not be responding to apush notification, rather, may initiate the communication that enablesthe dispensing of a free sample. In still another alternative, thecustomer may bypass the point of sale 100 entirely, for example, byusing a mobile device, such as a smart phone 400, to connect via thewired or wireless connection 304 directly with the dispensing machine210. As illustrated, the wired or wireless connections 300, 302, 304 maybe one-way or two-way connections.

At operation 506, information indicative that the free product samplinghas been dispensed may be received, for example, by the initiator of theoffer. Receipt of such information may be followed up with additionalpush notifications. For example, after the recipient has sampled thefree product sample, as evidenced by the information obtained atoperation 506, at operation 508 a query or second push may be initiated,for example by sending to the one or more intended recipients a queryasking if they would like to purchase the product corresponding to thesampled product. Additionally or alternatively at operation 508, thesecond query may ask for feedback, such as asking such recipients torate their experience in sampling the free product, for example,indicating on a scale of 1 to 10 how much they liked the product.Depending on the feedback received, for example, if the sample washighly rated, the intended recipient may be asked if he or she wouldlike to purchase the product corresponding to the free sample. On theother hand, if the sample was not highly rated, the intended recipientmay be offered one or more additional free product samplings.

Depending on the second push or query sent at operation 508, and theresponse received at operation 510, the dispensing of one or more freesamples and/or the dispensing of purchased product corresponding to thesampled product may be authorized. For example, if at operation 508 aresponse to the second push notification reveals negative feedbackrelative to the initial product sampling and/or that the intendedrecipient would like to sample one or more additional free samples, thenoperation 510 may authorize the dispensing of one or more additionalfree samples. In order to avoid an “endless loop” of negative feedbackby intended recipients merely trying to “game the system” by obtainingunlimited free product samples, a counter operation may be interposed,i.e., at operation 512, to cut off the opportunity for additional freesamples after a predetermined number, for example three free samples.Thus, operation 512 may count the number of requests for free samplesmade in response to the query operation 508 and if a predeterminednumber of free sample requests has not be met, may authorize thedispensing of additional free samples. Alternatively, if a predeterminednumber of free sample requests have been met, then operation 512 mayindicate that this is the case and end the free sample query.Alternatively, the counter operation 512 may be interposed prior to thequery operation 508 to indicate prior to the query being made that thepredetermined number of free samples has been dispensed, and end thefree sample offering.

As indicated, the query or second push operation 512 may ask theintended recipient to indicate if he or she is interested in purchasingthe product or service corresponding to the free sample. If anaffirmative indication is received, then the dispensing of the purchasedproduct or service may be authorized at operation 510.

The product dispensing machine, when used for dispensing liquid product,may be of the general configuration of The Coca-Cola Company Freestyle®dispensing machine, improved according to the teachings describedherein. As is well known, the Freestyle® dispensing machine storesbeverage concentrates, such as Coke®, Sprite®, and other beverageconcentrates and flavor concentrates, such as lemon, cherry, etc., inmultiple cartridges housed within the body of the machine. These variousconcentrates, as is also well known, are mixed and dispensed by theFreestyle® dispensing machine in microliter doses with carbonated waterto produce a finished beverage. In order to retain the desired flavorand quality profile of the concentrates, the cartridges may be chilledand/or periodically agitated by the machine. The Freestyle® vendingmachine is currently configured to pour a selected purchased beverageinto a customer's glass, cup, or other receptacle without discriminatingas to the size of the pour. Thus, a customer could currently pour aone-ounce, eight-ounce, or thirty-two-ounce serving of purchasedproduct, but cannot currently request a sample size of a free productsample or a purchased beverage of a predetermined size.

The Freestyle® dispensing machine may be modified, however, to limit thesize or quantity of the pour in response to the size of beverage beingpurchased and/or the size or quantity of a free sample to be dispensed.Such discrimination may be achieved using known portion controlapparatus and/or software configured to limit portion sizes. In thisway, a consumer might determine, due to calorie count of a caloricbeverage, that he or she only wishes to purchase a smaller than standardserving size, such as a six ounce serving, for example.

The Freestyle® dispensing machine may be further configured to offerand/or display the price of a beverage based on serving size. Forexample, a consumer might be permitted to order any size beverage inone-ounce increments, based on a price schedule that might offer avariable price per fluid ounce based on the volume selected. Given thecurrent obesity epidemic worldwide, but particularly in the UnitedStates, where the Freestyle® vending machine is most prominent,consumers may appreciate the option of buying only as much product asthey want at a Freestyle® dispenser, particularly in the case ofchildren, who often cannot finish a standard eight-ounce serving, andfor whom obesity concerns may be particularly acute.

A sample price schedule, which may be displayed by the Freestyle®vending machine on the user interface or touchscreen 215 might appear asset forth in the following example, termed for illustrative purposes as“Freestyle® Variserve™ Pricing:

Freestyle ® Variserve ™ Pricing Serving Price Per Price Per Calories PerSize (Oz.) Oz. ($) Serving ($) Serving 1 0.20 0.20 12.5 2 0.20 0.40 25 30.20 0.60 37.5 4 0.1625 0.65 50 5 0.014 0.70 62.5 6 0.133 0.80 75 70.129 0.90 87.5 8 0.125 1.00 100

The user interface may be configured to permit the consumer to selectthe serving size desired simply by pressing a touch screen section onthe graphical user interface 215 corresponding to the desired servingsize, i.e., as displayed on the Freestyle® Variserve™ Pricing menuillustrated above.

In another aspect of the disclosure, the seller of calorie containingproducts may, in order to encourage consumption of lower calorieofferings, and/or demonstrate to governmental organizations and/or thepublic generally their commitment to combatting the obesity epidemic,use the systems, methods, and/or apparatus disclosed herein to pricetheir products with variable pricing based on the caloric content of theproducts being dispensed, for example, pricing products at a fixed priceper calorie, or according to a pricing schedule that prices productbeing dispensed at a lower price per unit weight or volume for lowercalorie products relative to products that contain a greater number ofproducts per serving. Indeed, the variable price concept of the presentdisclosure may be used in combination with the portion control concept,creating a “double bonus” by offering even lower prices when both lowercalorie and lower serving size selections are made. Other combinationsare, of course possible.

Moms and people trying to control their weight by counting calorieswould benefit from being able to dispense food and beverage productsbased on the number of calories, such as one hundred calories' worth ofbeverage, nuts, seeds, yogurt, etc. Accordingly, another aspect of thedisclosure may employ the teachings herein to dispense a predeterminednumber of calories of food or beverage product, for example, at theconsumer's choosing. The dispensing apparatus may also be configured toprice the product thus dispensed according to the total number ofcalories dispensed, rather than the weight or volume of product beingdispensed.

A dispensing machine 210, such as a Freestyle® dispensing machine, maybe modified to allow pricing and sales based on caloric content of thebeverages offered. A price per calorie or additional surcharge percalorie may be established. In one embodiment, a discount or rebate isapplied for low-calorie or zero-calorie selections. The price percalorie may be set and updated based on, individually or in combination:geographic region, type of establishment the dispensing machine 210 islocated in, government regulation, third-party standards, owner/lesseepreference, etc. For example, a price per calorie for a dispensingmachine 210 located in a high school may be higher than the price percalorie for a dispensing machine 210 located in a fast-food restaurant.A user-customized beverage may vary in caloric content based on theparticular combination of beverages and/or flavorings used to create thecustom beverage. For example, a user may select on a Freestyle®dispensing machine to combine a zero-calorie cola with a high-caloriefruit flavored beverage. The combination chosen, and/or the quantity ofthe beverage chosen to be dispensed by the consumer, may permit theconsumer to determine the amount of calories in the beverage. In oneembodiment, a user may make selections for a beverage on the graphicuser interface 215. A price per unit of volume, such as a fluid ounce,based on the caloric content of the selected beverage combination maythen be calculated and displayed to the user on the graphic userinterface 215. Additionally or alternatively to a price per unit volume,a total caloric content and price may be displayed based on apredetermined receptacle size. For example, in one embodiment,receptacles of “small”, “medium”, and “large” sizes may be madeavailable to a user where the dispensing machine is located. A pricebased on the calories of the selected beverage may be based on thevolumes of the receptacles provided and may be displayed on the graphicuser interface 215 in addition to or in place of a price per fluidounce. In one embodiment, the receptacle chosen may be detected and theprice for the beverage based on the set size of the receptaclecommunicated to the dispensing machine 210 and the caloric content ofthe user-defined beverage.

In another aspect of the disclosure, a parental and/or governmentalcontrol feature may be employed. Many types of products, such asalcoholic beverages, pharmaceuticals, birth control products, adultreading materials and videos and the like, and in some venues evencalorie-containing beverages, may not be legally sold to minors. Yet itmay be desirable for a seller of such products, referred to generallyherein as “adult products,” to be able to dispense them via a productdispenser or vending machine such as those described and referencedherein. Such sale of adult products might be accomplished, for example,by incorporating an age verification operation to verify that a consumerdispensing a product is old enough to purchase the product, such as inthe case of an alcoholic beverage, a calorie-containing beverage, or any“adult product” that might be dispensed, such as birth control products,adult reading materials, via a Freestyle® type dispenser, yogurtdispenser, vending machine, etc. Such age verification operation may,for example, include face recognition modules, fingerprintidentification technology, or any other known means of verifying theidentity and/or age of an individual.

While the above example illustrates a variable price per unit volume,i.e., fluid ounces, it should be readily appreciated that the productdispenser of the present disclosure may be configured to dispenseproduct by weight, by volume, or, in the case of solid products such aspharmaceuticals, by number of units, such as pills. Also, the variablepricing menu may be configured to vary the pricing per unit quantitybased on the type of product being dispensed. For example, in the caseof perfume, some brands may be more expensive per unit quantity thanother brands, but the dispenser may be configured to dispense bothhigher and lower cost perfumes with variable pricing based on quantitypurchased.

It should be here noted that variable pricing at a dispenser of productmay be used to encourage, or discourage, more or less consumption of aproduct. Thus, if the product being dispensed is gasoline, the dispensermay be configured to charge a higher price per gallon the greater thequantity of gasoline being purchased, for example, during a finitepurchasing operation by a single customer. Similarly, if the productbeing dispensed is an alcoholic beverage, the price per ounce ofalcoholic beverage being dispensed from the dispenser may be configuredto increase as greater volumes of beverage are purchased. Indeed, thedispenser may be configured to recognize a particular consumer hashaving purchased, during a finite time period, a quantity of alcoholthat approaches the legal limit for alcoholic consumption for an adultof typical weight. In such situations, the dispenser may be configuredto halt the sale or dispensing of alcohol to such consumer until apredetermined period of time has lapsed. Such dispenser might be ofparticular use at a bar or restaurant, where a server may not always beable to perceive the relative intoxication of a customer. Productdispensers, such as beer taps, in such establishments, may be configuredto record the quantity of alcoholic beverages, such as beer, beingpoured for a particular consumer. The product dispensers may beconfigured to track alcohol consumption using radio-frequencyidentification (RFID) chips embedded in each consumer's cup, mug, orglass that are coded for each individual customer. The dispenser mayinclude, for example, an RFID reader or other type of reader thatrecognizes and counts each pour of beer for a particular customer andhalts additional pours after a predetermined number of servings havebeen recorded.

The system may similarly be used to discourage overconsumption ofcaloric products, such as sugar-containing beverages. Thus, if thesystem detects that a particular consumer has, in a predetermined timeperiod, one hour for example, consumed an excessive number of calories,it may issue a warning to the consumer, either at the point of sale, thedispensing area, and/or via the consumer's handheld device, i.e., smartphone or tablet. Similarly, the system may be configured to disallowcontinued dispensing of purchased or free samples of product to aconsumer that has exceeded a predetermined quantity of product and/or apredetermined number of calories consumed.

In other contexts, of course, the dispenser may be configured, asillustrated above, to decrease the price per ounce as the volume beingpurchased increases, according to volume discount pricing protocolsemployed, for example, by volume discount establishments such asCostco®.

The system of the present disclosure may be configured to permit acustomer to communicate with the product dispensing machine 210, such asa Freestyle® machine, for example, using a smart phone 400 in place of,or in augmentation of, the touchscreen panel display 215 of thedispensing machine 210. Thus, the customer may, employing the systems,methods, and apparatus described herein, be able to request a custom mixof a beverage to sample as a free sample. Such enablement may beachievable with relatively inexpensive and/or commonly understoodsoftware upgrades to existing Freestyle® machine software and/or theFreestyle® mobile application 410.

The same technology employed in the existing Freestyle® machine todispense beverage products may be repurposed to dispense other liquidproducts, such as perfume, cologne, cosmetics, etc., either as freesamples and/or as purchased products per the disclosures containedherein. One particularly attractive use of the Freestyle® dispensingtechnology, given its micro-dosing capabilities, may be in the area ofsampling highly volatile and/or expensive liquids such as perfumes, assuch samples normally must be made in small quantities. Just asconsumers may mix their own blends of beverages using the Freestyle®vending machine, they may do the same, employing the teachings herein tomix, for example, their own blends of cosmetics, perfumes, colognes,etc.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the four moments oftruth may be compressed in time and space. For example, a pushnotification may be provided, i.e., via a smartphone or other mobiledevice, to a potential consumer, providing that consumer with the typeof information the consumer might otherwise seek out during the zeromoment of truth. The push notification may be sent to a user'scommunication device irrespective of the user's or the device'slocation. Alternatively, the push notification may be sent to the useror the user's communication device when the user is determined to be inclose proximity to a product dispenser offering products with which thepush notification is concerned. Such proximity may be determined usingknown location determination systems, such as those enabled on smartphones such as the Apple® iPhone. The push notification may provideinformation including product attributes, market survey data, such ashow other consumers have rated the offered product, how long the productwill be offered, at what locations, for what price, etc.

The push notification may offer the prospective purchaser a free productsample at a designated location, essentially bypassing the first momentof truth, as the potential purchaser does not need, at this stage, tomake a purchase decision. It is generally recognized that the mostuseful information concerning why a purchasing decision was made is thatgathered proximate in time to the making of that decision. The pushnotification may thus include a requirement that the potential purchasercomplete a survey, such as a pre-sample and/or post-sample survey, as acondition of being provided the free sample. The potential purchaser maythen be provided a free sample and queried immediately thereafter totake a survey, for example, a multi-modal survey over a hand-held orother mobile device, or otherwise share the experience of the product orservice, compressing the second and third moments of truth into atimeframe proximate the sampling experience. The prospective purchasermay be incentivized to complete a market research or data acquisitionoperation, i.e., by taking a survey, following the sampling experienceby being offered another free sample after confirmation that theconsumer has completed the data acquisition operation. In anotherembodiment, a potential purchaser may receive a sample and also apost-sample survey, with completion of the survey incentivized by theoffer of a discount on a purchased product corresponding to the sampledproduct or a related product.

The seller of the product or service may capture experiential data, suchas whether or not the free sample met expectations, how the potentialpurchaser rates the sample, etc. The potential purchaser may then bequeried as to whether or not the purchase of a packaged product orservice corresponding to the free sample is desired. If so, the packagedproduct may be dispensed or service provided. If not, the potentialpurchaser may be queried as to why no purchase is desired, with theinformation being captured for providing valuable marketing informationto the seller of the product or service being offered. Such informationmay be captured by the seller of the product, or may, for example, becaptured by known methods, including via data acquisition providers thatprovide online surveys, such as Toluna, which may employ social mediasuch as Facebook, Twitter, and other apps for the purpose.

In the case of a sampled beverage, for example, being promoted by theCoca-Cola Freestyle® or PepsiCo “Touch Tower” dispensing machines, theapparatus, systems, and methods of the present disclosure may be used tocapture consumer preference data that may be shared with otherprospective consumers. For example, a 50-50 blend of Orange-flavoredCoke and Vanilla-flavored Coke, sometimes referred to as a “Cream-side,”might show a favorability rating of 92% “likes,” while a less popularsample or purchased product might indicate a much lower rating. Suchratings may be displayed prior to the potential purchaser accepting thepush notification offer, and/or prior to the potential purchaser beingqueried as to whether the purchase of a product corresponding to thesampled product is desired. The consumer may, either following samplingthe product to be sampled, also be asked to rate the product foradditional marketing data capture.

Another aspect of the disclosure is illustrated in FIG. 3. In thisaspect, a product dispenser, generally 600, may comprise both a productsampling portion, 620 and a packaged product portion, 630, which may beconfigured to dispense a packaged product 640 corresponding to a productto be sampled 625 from the sampling portion 620, as will now bedescribed. In this aspect, the product sampling portion 620 may, forexample, comprise a legacy-type fountain dispenser, a Freestyle®-typedispenser as previously described, or a “Touch Tower” dispenser such asthose promoted by PepsiCo, Inc., or any other device that may beconfigured to dispense a product sample. The product sampling portion620 may, as another example, comprise a dispenser of solid products,subsequently described.

The product sampling portion 620 may be configured to contain a productto be sampled, 625. The product to be sampled 625 may, for example,comprise a liquid, such as a beverage, a semi-liquid, such as a yogurtproduct or a cosmetic lotion, cream or paste, or a solid, such as nuts,potato chips, corn chips, cookies, cookie pieces, pretzels, candy, candypieces, pharmaceutical-type products such as pills, tablets, orlozenges, etc.

The product to be sampled 625 may be dispensed through a product sampledispenser 626, which may comprise, for example, in the case of a liquidor semi-liquid product a dispensing mechanism such as a nozzle that mayfurther comprise a known volumetric or weight control mechanism to limitthe size of the sample to a predetermined quantity, such as thosecommonly used, for example to fill beverage bottles at bottling plants,yogurt containers, toothpaste, pharmaceutical cream, and cosmetic tubes,etc.

In the case of a solid product to be sampled 625, the product sampledispenser 626 may comprise dispensing equipment such as used to fillpotato chip bags and other snack food bags in known form, fill, and sealpackaging processes, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,534,818 and8,656,690 (assigned to Frito-Lay North America, Inc.), incorporated byreference herein. Such equipment, employed in conventional form, fill,and seal packaging machines, first weigh and measure the product in aweigher. The weighers collect and discharge a specified charge ofproduct. Each charge represents the amount of product that will, in thecase of a packaged solid food product such as potato chips, nuts, seeds,etc., occupy a single bag. Downstream from the weigher is typically afunnel or a series of funnels, which direct the product to complete thepackaging operation. In this context, solid products to be sampledaccording to the present disclosure may be dispensed in a predeterminedweight or volume employing known weighing and dispensing equipment thatmay be modified to dispense smaller quantities and/or fit within theconfines of a product dispenser 600, which may occupy roughly the samefootprint as a standard beverage or salty snack vending machine.

In one aspect of the present disclosure in which solid product samplesare being dispensed, such products may be contained in storage binswithin the product dispenser 600, may be portioned using a weigher, andmay be conveyed, dropped, funneled, or otherwise dispensed into a samplecup or other sample receptacle, 627, or may be dispensed into thewaiting hand of a consumer. When a sample receptacle 627 is employed, itmay be stored, for example, in a nearby cup holder, or may be dispensedfrom the product sample dispenser 626 in a manner similar to that inwhich beverage cups are dispensed using conventional coffee vendingmachines.

The product sampling portion 620 may be configured to dispense liquid,semi-liquid, and solid product samples from the same product dispenser600. Similarly, the packaged product portion 630 may be configured todispense liquid, semi-liquid, and solid products from the same packagedproduct dispenser 630, corresponding to the liquid, semi-liquid, andsolid products samples, respectively. The product dispenser 600 may beconfigured to store and serve hot, cold, and ambient temperatureproducts, both as samples and as packaged, purchased products.

The product to be sampled, 625, may be dispensed in a sample size 628,which may be a smaller, larger, or the same quantity as the size of acorresponding purchased packaged product. In the case of a beverage, aneight or twelve-ounce can, or a 16-ounce bottle, are typical sizes ofpurchased packaged products that are dispensed through conventionalvending machines. In the case of a solid purchased packaged productdispensed through conventional vending machines, sizes vary widely,depending upon the density of the product in question and the desiredcalories per serving desired within a single-serve package. In apreferred aspect of the disclosure, the sample size 628 may be smallerthan the typical size of corresponding purchased packaged product,particularly when a free sample is being offered, to minimize the costof providing a free sample. In this aspect, the sample size 628 may bepredetermined to be of a size (by weight or volume) that is large enoughto provide a testing consumer sufficient quantity to determine whetheror not to purchase a corresponding packaged product, and ideally andpreferably no larger. Such sample size 628 will obviously vary by phaseof product, i.e., liquid, semi-liquid, or solid, and by product type,i.e., food, beverage, cosmetic, perfume, etc.

The product dispenser 600 of the present disclosure may comprise apackaged product portion 630 positioned in proximity to, or integralwith, the product sampling portion 620. The packaged product portion 630may comprise apparatus configured for packaged product storage, chillingor heating, and dispensing according to conventional vending machines,but may differ therefrom insofar as the packaged product portion 630 maycommunicate physically and/or wirelessly with the product samplingportion 620 as illustrated and described. As further illustrated, thepackaged product portion 630 may be configured to dispense a packagedproduct, 640, such as a canned or bottled beverage or a sealed saltysnack package via a packaged product dispensing bin 642, which may beconventional. The packaged product 640 may correspond to the product tobe sampled 625. As used herein, the term “a packaged productcorresponding to the product to be sampled” is intended to mean aproduct contained in a package, the packaged product being branded thesame as, generally equivalent to, and in certain preferred embodiments,in all material aspects (except, perhaps, quantity) identical to, theproduct to be sampled in terms of product formula, quality, and physicalproperties.

In some embodiments, however, a packaged product may be considered to“correspond to the product to be sampled” even if not identical informulation. For example, assume that the product to be sampled israspberry-flavored Fanta® soft drinks, but that precise flavor istemporarily out of stock within the storage area of the packaged productportion 630. In that situation, a user of the product dispenser 600 mayreceive an out of stock notice and a query concerning whether asubstitute product, i.e., strawberry-flavored Fanta®, is desiredinstead. Given the similarity of brand and product experience in thisexample, the strawberry-flavored Fanta® packaged soft drink isconsidered to “correspond to the product to be sampled,” i.e., araspberry-flavored Fanta® soft drink. As another example, diet productssuch as diet Coke® may utilize a slightly different sweetener systemwhen dispensed via legacy fountain equipment relative to the sweetenersystem used in the canned or bottled version. But according to thepresent disclosure, the bottle or can formulation of diet Coke®, i.e.,the packaged product, is intended to “correspond to the product to besampled,” for example, a diet Coke® formulation dispensed from legacyfountain equipment, even if having a slightly different sweetenersystem.

In an alternative aspect of the disclosure, the product to be sampled625 may be packaged in a sample package, and dispensed through thepackaged product portion 630 of the dispensing apparatus 600. In thisaspect, the packaged product to be sampled may, for example, be packagedin a smaller size than a corresponding packaged product to be purchased.Common examples of packaged product sizes that are smaller than packagesizes dispensed after purchase from a vending machine includes peanutsand pretzels served on commercial aircraft, and “travel sizes” ofhealth, beauty, and personal consumer products, i.e., 24-gram packagesof Crest® toothpaste, or small packets of products such as sun screenlotion, shaving lotion, etc., sometimes provided, i.e., by hotels topatrons who have forgotten such items. In the case of a packaged productto be sampled, i.e., a 24-gram travel size of Crest® toothpaste, it maybe desirable to configure the product dispenser 600 to dispense both thepackaged product to be sampled and the packaged product to be purchasedthrough the same product dispenser 600, such as the product dispensingbin 642.

As further illustrated in FIG. 3, the product dispenser 600 may comprisea user interface 650, which may be a graphical user interface such asused on the Freestyle® or “Touch Tower” dispensing machines.Alternatively or additionally, the user interface may comprise productselection buttons such as employed on conventional vending machines.Such user interface 650 may comprise one or more buttons 652, which maybe actual (mechanical) or virtual (graphical) buttons, for making aproduct offering and/or selection.

The user interface 650 may communicate, either via wired or wirelesscommunication, with the product sampling portion 620 and/or the packagedproduct portion 630. In this aspect, a consumer may be given anopportunity to sample a product, either for free or for a fee, and maythen, after having sampled the product, be given an opportunity topurchase a product corresponding to the sampled product. For example,the product dispenser user interface 650 may display an offer to try afree sample of one or more products that may be dispensed from theproduct dispenser 600 as herein described. The consumer may be prompted,for example, through the user interface 650, to select one or moreproducts for sampling. Upon selection of the product to be sampled, forexample, by a consumer selecting a particular button 652, the productdispenser 650 may dispense the selected sample product.

The product dispenser 650 may, after dispensing the selected sampleproduct, query the consumer if the purchase of a packaged productcorresponding to the sampled product is desired. Such purchase may, forexample, be accomplished employing a conventional vending machinepurchasing operation, which may occur with either a cash or cashless(credit card, i.e.) vending operation.

In a preferred aspect of the disclosure, the first moment of truth forthe product being offered may be used to incentivize a purchase of theproduct and/or obtain market research data concerning consumers'purchase decisions. For example, if it is known that a consumertypically takes 5 seconds or less after sampling a free beverage samplebefore making a decision to purchase a product corresponding to thatsample, the product dispenser 600 may query the user, for example, viathe user interface 650, within 5 seconds of dispensing a sample, if theconsumer wishes to purchase a dispensed or packaged productcorresponding to the sampled product. While the consumer may, withinthat 5-second first moment of truth have already determined to purchasethe product, the query may serve to reinforce the purchase decision.Similarly, if, during the 5-second first moment of truth, the consumerhas determined not to purchase a dispensed or packaged productcorresponding to the sampled product, a query nonetheless asking theconsumer if a purchase is desired may encourage the consumer to changehis or her mind by virtue of the query. But even if the consumer who hasmade a negative purchase decision is not encouraged to change his or hermind by the query, this too may be the source of useful market researchinformation for the vendor of the sampled product. In that case, theproduct dispenser 600 (or smartphone app or other communication vehicle)may ask the consumer why he or she is unwilling to purchase the product,providing one or more possible answers the consumer may enter, i.e., ona touch screen associated with the user interface 650, or via a cellphone app, i.e., the Freestyle® app. Similarly, a consumer who answersthe query affirmatively and purchases a product corresponding to thesampled product, may be surveyed as to why he or she purchased theproduct, whether he or she would do so again, etc.

In an alternative embodiment of the disclosure, illustrated in FIG. 4, apush notification may be initiated at operation 700. Such a pushnotification may take the form previously described herein, i.e., via awireless communication device, for example the Freestyle® smartphoneapp. Such notification may alert users to nearby locations at which apromotional product sampling offer is valid.

At operation 710, a response to the push notification may be received,for example indicative of an acceptance of the offering.

At operation 720, dispensing of a product sample may be authorized inresponse to the acceptance of operation 710.

At operation 730, a query may be provided to a source of the response tothe push notification of operation 710, for example, a consumer using asmartphone app. The query may ask the consumer if there is a desire toobtain a product corresponding to the product just sampled, whether forpurchase, reward redemption, as a free prize, or otherwise.

At operation 740, upon receiving affirmative response to the query ofoperation 730, instructions may be provided to dispense a packagedproduct corresponding to the product sample.

In another aspect of the disclosure, the first moment of truth (orindeed all four moments of truth) may be lengthened or shortened byproviding time-sensitive incentives to the prospective purchaser. Forexample, assume at time=0 a sample product is dispensed for a productgenerally recognized as having a 7-second first moment of truth. Attime=5 seconds following sample product dispensing, the consumer may bequeried if a purchase of the sampled product is desired, and may beincentivized with a lesser price if the purchaser makes an affirmativedecision within a period of time, say, 10 seconds after the query,following which time, the price offered may increase to the standardprice of the purchased product.

As an example, this method may look like this:

-   -   1. Consumer receives a push notification offer to sample a free        beverage product at a nearby Freestyle® vending machine.    -   2. Consumer accepts the push notification offer and receives the        free sample.    -   3. Five seconds after the free sample is dispensed, the        Freestyle® vending machine queries the consumer if he or she        would like to purchase a packaged beverage corresponding to the        free sample, informing the consumer that a 16-ounce packaged        beverage normally costs $2.50 from vending machines, but that        for the next 10 seconds, the consumer may purchase the same        16-ounce packaged beverage for $2.00. This information may be        displayed on the Freestyle® user interface, with a 10-second        countdown and a “purchase product” button or graphical interface        positioned nearby, possibly in a flashing, blinking, or        otherwise in a manner to attract attention. If the “purchase        product” button is pressed, the counter may stop counting, and        lock in the $2.00 purchase price for the product in issue. The        dispenser may then receive payment using known methods and        authorize the dispensing of a 16-ounce packaged beverage,        charging the consumer $2.00 for the transaction.

The methods, systems, and apparatus of the present disclosure can beused to accomplish a wide range of possible combinations, as illustratedbelow. These possible combinations can be even further multiplied byvarying the type of product, i.e., solid, semi-solid, or liquid. Suchcombinations may further be employed in conjunction with customerloyalty programs, sweepstakes, or other promotions designed to provideincentives for consumers to try products, whether for free or for a fee,and receive rewards, including free products for which payment wouldordinarily be required.

Possible combinations of sample and product:

-   -   1. Free unpackaged sample, purchased packaged product    -   2. Free unpackaged sample, free packaged product    -   3. Free unpackaged sample, purchased unpackaged product    -   4. Free unpackaged sample, free unpackaged product    -   5. Free packaged sample, purchased packaged product    -   6. Free packaged sample, free packaged product    -   7. Free packaged sample, purchased unpackaged product    -   8. Free packaged sample, free unpackaged product    -   9. Purchased unpackaged sample, purchased packaged product    -   10. Purchased unpackaged sample, free packaged product    -   11. Purchased unpackaged sample, purchased unpackaged product    -   12. Purchased unpackaged sample, free unpackaged product    -   13. Purchased packaged sample, purchased packaged product    -   14. Purchased packaged sample, free packaged product    -   15. Purchased packaged sample, purchased unpackaged product    -   16. Purchased packaged sample, free unpackaged product

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is illustrated another preferred methodof practicing an aspect of the present disclosure. As illustrated atoperation 810, there may be provided a push notification, for exampleusing a smartphone app such as the Freestyle® smartphone app, or otherknown push notification medium, to notify one or more intendedrecipients of a free product sampling being offered, for example, atdesignated locations and/or for limited times. The offer of a freesample may be conditioned on the intended recipient(s) providing marketresearch data or other information, either before, during, and/or afterthe free product sampling.

At operation 820, in response to receiving information indicative of anacceptance of the offering and the condition of acceptance, instructionsmay be provided authorizing dispensing of the free product sample.

At operation 830, a request for market research data from the intendedrecipient of the push notification may be made, in an effort to collectmarket research data, i.e., whether the sampled product metexpectations, why or why not, etc.

At operation 840, a query may be made to the intended recipient as towhether purchase of packaged product corresponding to free productsampling is desired.

In response to a positive response to the query, instructionsauthorizing dispensing of packaged product corresponding to free productsampled may be provided at operation 850, for example, after payment hasbeen received from the intended recipient. In response to a negativeresponse to the query, at operation 860, the intended recipient may bequeried as to why a negative response was provided. This informationmay, in turn, be stored by the product dispenser 600, may be transmittedto the product supplier, or may be otherwise stored or transmitted forfurther use, aggregation, etc.

In either the case of a positive response or a negative response to thequery at operation 840, the product dispensing system may initiate aquery at operation 870 for post-acquisition market research related tosampling and/or purchasing of product sampling and/or purchased productfrom the intended recipient. Such query 870 might include surveysrelated to consumer satisfaction with the product sampling experience,effectiveness of the product sampling in leading to a purchase decision,what the consumer liked most/least about the product samplingexperience, etc.

In another aspect of the disclosure, the dispenser illustrated in FIG. 3may be configured with known facial recognition or similar dataacquisition software and/or devices, represented in FIG. 3 as element670, which may include a camera or other imaging module positioned at alocation on the product dispenser corresponding to that needed tocapture within its field of view a consumer standing proximate theproduct dispenser 600 and to enable the dispenser 600 to eitherrecognize a particular consumer, and/or to determine, in the case ofcosmetic products, for example, a recommended color palette of cosmeticproducts for that particular consumer. For example, women makingpurchasing decisions at cosmetics counters in department stores oftenseek cosmetic colors that match their particular skin tone, complementtheir eye or hair color, etc. According to the present disclosure, thesample product dispenser may be configured to determine, based on one ormore of these color parameters, i.e., skin tone, eye color, teeth color,hair color, lip color, etc., a recommended color for a particularproduct of interest, i.e., a lipstick, a face cream concealer, a haircolor, etc., and may “counsel” the customer as to the recommendedproduct based on such recommended color. In the case of a liquidproduct, such as a face cream concealer, for example, the dispenser maybe configured to mix a sample thereof in a color corresponding to therecommended color, which may, in a preferred aspect, be a color thatmatches as nearly as possible to the consumer's natural skin color. Inanother aspect, a recommended cosmetic or hair color may be determinedby categorizing the consumer, based on a facial data acquisition step,whether that consumer presents with “Winter,” “Spring,” “Summer,” or“Autumn” skin, eye, and/or hair tones. Alternatively, the dispenser maybe configured to offer and dispense a purchased cosmetic product or haircolor corresponding to a recommended color for the particular consumerafter accessing data pertaining to the consumer's unique colorparameters. In an alternative aspect, such facial recognition devicesmay be employed with the methods, apparatus, and/or systems of thepresent disclosure to offer product to be sampled and/or purchased basedon one or more of the consumer's facially recognized age, sex,ethnicity, size, prior purchases (in the case of a recognized priorpurchaser), etc.

Any of the above mentioned aspects can be implemented in methods,systems, computer readable media, or any type of manufacture. It shouldbe understood to those skilled in the art that the various techniquesdescribed herein may be implemented in connection with hardware orsoftware or, where appropriate, with a combination of both. For example,aspects of the invention may execute on a programmed computer. Thus, themethods and apparatus of the invention, or certain aspects or portionsthereof, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions) embodiedin tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, orany other machine-readable storage medium wherein, when the program codeis loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, smartphone, or other machine, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicingthe invention. In the case of program code execution on programmablecomputers, the computing device generally includes a processor, astorage medium readable by the processor (including volatile andnon-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device,and at least one output device. Such programs are preferably implementedin a high level procedural or object oriented programming language tocommunicate with a computer system. However, the program(s) can beimplemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case,the language may be a compiled or interpreted language, and combinedwith hardware implementations. In example embodiments a computerreadable storage media can include for example, random access memory(RAM), a storage device, e.g., electromechanical hard drive, solid statehard drive, etc., firmware, e.g., FLASH RAM or ROM, and removablestorage devices such as, for example, CD-ROMs, floppy disks, DVDs, FLASHdrives, external storage devices, etc. It should be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art that other types of computer readable storage mediacan be used such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digitalvideo disks, Bernoulli cartridges, and the like. The computer readablestorage media may provide non-volatile storage of processor executableinstructions, data structures, program modules and other data for acomputer.

We claim:
 1. A method comprising: a. initiating a push notificationintended for a mobile application associated with a plurality ofintended recipients, the push notification offering a customized food orbeverage to be dispensed from a product dispenser; b. receiving aresponse to the push notification indicative of an acceptance of theoffering, the acceptance generated via the mobile application; c.receiving, via a wireless communication between a mobile device and theproduct dispenser, the mobile device associated with an intendedrecipient and the mobile application, a request that the productdispenser dispense the customized food or beverage, the customized foodor beverage comprising a mix selected by the intended recipient; and d.authorizing dispensing of the mix from the product dispenser.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the customized food or beverage comprises afree sample.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the mix comprises abeverage mix of a first user-chosen beverage and a second user-chosenbeverage.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the customized food orbeverage comprises a purchased product.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the customized food or beverage comprising a mix selected by theintended recipient comprises a mix enabled via the mobile application.6. The method of claim 1, further including verifying that the intendedrecipient is located proximate the product dispenser.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, further including displaying calorie information specific tothe customized food or beverage on a display associated with the productdispenser.
 8. The method of claim 1, including monitoring the intendedrecipient's consumption of the customized food or beverage via an RFIDchip embedded in a container specific to the intended recipient.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the monitoring includes determining aquantity or caloric content of the customized food or beverage consumedby the intended recipient, and transmitting a warning notice to theintended recipient if a predetermined quantity or caloric content of thecustomized food or beverage product has been consumed.
 10. The method ofclaim 4, wherein the authorizing dispensing includes verifying that theintended recipient has created an account capable of paying for thepurchased product.
 11. A system comprising a product dispenserconfigured to dispense a user-customized food or beverage product, theproduct dispenser configured to communicate wirelessly with a mobiledevice of an intended user, and to dispense the user-customized food orbeverage product responsive to a request from the intended user made viathe mobile device, the request from the intended user responsive toacceptance of a push notification offer directed to the intended user,the push notification offer intended for a mobile application associatedwith the mobile device of the intended user, the push notificationoffering the user-customized food or beverage product to be dispensedfrom the product dispenser.
 12. The system of claim 11, the acceptancehaving been generated via the mobile application.
 13. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the user-customized food or beverage product comprisesa user-selected mix enabled via the mobile application.
 14. The systemof claim 11, wherein the product dispenser comprises a wirelesscommunication device, the product dispenser being configured to enabledispensing of the user-customized food or beverage product responsive tothe request from the intended user made via the mobile device, therequest received by the product dispenser via wireless communication ofthe wireless communication device with the mobile device of the intendeduser.
 15. The system of claim 11, wherein the product dispensercomprises a display configured to display calorie information specificto the user-customized food or beverage product based on a quantity ofthe user-customized food or beverage product.
 16. The system of claim13, the system configured to enable the user-selected mix enabled viathe mobile application to be preselected by the intended user.
 17. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the product dispenser is configured with arecognition device configured to recognize the intended user.
 18. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructionsthat when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform operations comprising: a. initiating a pushnotification intended for a mobile application associated with aplurality of intended recipients, the push notification offering acustom mix of a food or beverage to be dispensed from a productdispenser; b. receiving a response to the push notification indicativeof an acceptance of the offering, the acceptance generated via themobile application; c. receiving, via a wireless communication between amobile device and the product dispenser, the mobile device associatedwith an intended recipient of the push notification and the mobileapplication, a request that the product dispenser dispense the custommix, wherein the custom mix comprises a user-selected mix enabled viathe mobile application; and d. authorizing dispensing of theuser-selected mix from the product dispenser.
 19. The non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the user-selectedmix comprises a mix selected by the intended recipient via the mobileapplication in advance of initiating the push notification.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein theoperations further comprise transmitting information intended to enabledisplay of calorie information specific to the user-selected mix on adisplay associated with the product dispenser.